You Report, We Decide

POLITICO: Nate Kleinman, the Occupy Philadelphia protester who is running for Congress against Representative Allyson Schwartz, will have to head to court to defend his right to stay on the ballot. Last Tuesday, Kleinman’s campaign submitted more than 1,500 signatures to the election board, meeting the 1,000-signature requirement for entry in the race. But Schwartz’s office is contesting those signatures, and with them Kleinman’s right to run for Congress. “We’re going to court,” Kleinman’s deputy campaign manager Patrick Morgioni told me minutes after Schwartz’s office filed its papers this afternoon. “But I’m very optimistic,” he added. “Case law — and therefore the law — is on our side.” […] Morgioni said that in addition to challenging 504 of Kleinman’s signatures, Schwartz’s campaign will argue that Morgioini, who collected roughly 500 signatures, was not a registered Democrat in the 13th district when he started petitioning. MORE

NATE KLEINMAN: We’ve done nothing wrong. Our signatures are good, and I have every reason to believe my name will be on the ballot on April 24th. The people of the 13th District deserve to have an alternative, and well over 1000 voters signed petitions asking for me to be that alternative. Representative Schwartz is using the standard political play-book here, but this is not the standard political campaign. Americans are tired of politicians using their connections and corporate money to stay in power forever. She may very well succeed in knocking me off the ballot – especially given the $2.3 million in her campaign war-chest and her long roster of corporate donors – but it would only be a temporary victory. After knocking on countless doors and meeting thousands of people across the 13th District, I am confident that I can win this campaign as a write-in candidate, if need be. The stakes in this election are simply too high for me to back down. But I remain confident that a write-in campaign will not be necessary, since we will win the day in court.

BRENDAN SKWIRE: Allyson Schwartz: 1) supported the 2005 Bankruptcy Reform Bill, which let credit cards raise their interest to whatever they wanted and increased their bankruptcy protections… while making it harder for YOu to do the same; 2) has repeatedly supported reauthorization of the Patriot Act without any reforms (voting YES for Patriot Act powers most recently in February of 2011, and in February of 2010 before that). 3) voted for all of the no-strings-attached bank bailouts. 4) she joined the GOP to water down and weaken Obama’s health insurance reforms, voting to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a panel charged with keeping down the costs of federal health programs. 5) it’s hard to find it, but she repeatedly voted to give Bush a blank check in Iraq.

YOUNG PHILLY POLITICS: Schwartz relies on a lot of old school Philadelphia liberals for support, because in a different world, she used to be one. If she runs in a Democratic primary, it is going to be our job to make sure they know how ridiculous she has become, and she no longer deserves their money or support. MORE

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